Monday, September 23, 2013

Egypt court bans all Muslim Brotherhood activities

September 23, 2013

AFP picAn
Egyptian court today banned the Muslim Brotherhood from operating and
ordered its assets seized, in the latest blow to the Islamist movement
of deposed president Mohamed Morsi.
The court also banned "any institution branching out from or belonging
to the Brotherhood," the official MENA news agency reported, possibly
restricting the movement's political arm the Freedom and Justice Party.
The ruling comes amid a crackdown on the Brotherhood and more than a
month after hundreds of Islamist protesters died in a police operation
to disperse their Cairo sit-ins, sparking a wave of nationwide violence.
A judicial source told AFP the court ruled that a government committee
should be created to manage the Brotherhood's seized assets.
The Cairo court "ruled to ban all activities by the Muslim Brotherhood
organisation, the group emanating from it and its non-governmental
organisation," MENA reported.
The ruling may be appealed and overturned by a higher court.
Formed in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood was banned for decades before a
popular uprising overthrew its arch foe president Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
It dominated subsequent parliamentary elections and won the
presidential election in June 2012 through its candidate Morsi, who
himself was overthrown by the military on July 3.
The new military-installed government now accuses the Islamist movement
of "terrorism", and police have arrested at least 2,000 members
including most of senior Brotherhood leaders.
In the past three years, the movement set up headquarters in a
multi-storey building in Cairo and opened offices across the country for
its Freedom and Justice Party.
All these buildings are likely to be seized under the court order,
which can also, if upheld, criminalise membership with the movement. -
AFP, September 23, 2013.